1885 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



595 



of a great many who gave the arrange rneut 

 a pretty thorough test years ago. 



ROBBERS, BREEDING QUEENS FOR 

 QUALITY, ETC. 



"ROBBERS IN NEWLT UNITED COLONIES. 



UNITED three small colonies of bees a few days 

 since, and saw with pleasure these three fami- 

 lies, of about 20,()00 each, unite in peace, mak- 

 ing- one family of 60,000. In twenty minutes 

 thereafter I saw a bee from a fourth colony 

 enter that hive, and it was at once seized upon as a 

 stranger and enemy; that all these bees should 

 have become acquainted, or have had such an indi- 

 vidual introduction within that short time, so that 

 a strang-er should be recos-nized on coming among 

 them, I thought was one of the most wonderful 

 things, among the many wonderful things to be 

 learned in studying and observing the operations 

 of bees. If one of the colonies united had been 

 red, another while, and the other blue, and the 

 stranger from the fourth yellow, or each colony 

 had a special perfume, as rose, heliotrope, gerani- 

 um, etc., I could have at once understood how they 

 could recognize the muskscented stranger; Itut I 

 do not believe they were so distinguished. 

 ■ The question then remains, 



HOW DO BEES RECOGNIZE HOUBEUS? 



1 answer, "By their behavior." A bee enters a 

 strange colony just as a robber enters our house, 

 fearful of being seen, trembling, pale, by an^unu- 

 sual way, if possible, avoiding meiiibers of the 

 household, and with evident intention of seizing 

 goods and running. I think it is well known that a 

 bee may, during a great How of honey, by accident, 

 in its haste enter the wrong hive, and then cuipty 

 its stores, and hasten again to the Held, without be- 

 ing disturbed, just because it never knew it was 

 out of its own house, and thcrefoie behaved just as 

 others. I have found this story of the recognition 

 of strangers in a colony one of the most interesting 

 to visitors of my apiary. 



.M.\lMNfi gUEENS. 



I have just received in splendid condition a Car- 

 niolan queen from Mr. Frank Benton, of Munich, 

 Germany. There were fourteen live bees, and one 

 dead one in the cage after at least fourteen days in 

 the mails. 



I do not believe there is any secret about Ben- 

 ton's success in mailing queens, further than the 

 peculiar construction of the cage, and the covering 

 over the food to maintain moisture. 



BREEDING QUEENS FOR QU.M.ITV. 



For several years I have carefully noted different 

 characteristics of various colonies in my apiary, 

 and noted the races to which these colonies be- 

 longed. The first colony I noted was one which 

 swarmed .Sept. 6, 188X', and which gathered enough 

 honey that fall to take them over to the next sea- 

 son, 1883, when it started out as one of my strong- 

 est colonies, showing a very prolific queen. This 

 colony did not swarm during 18S5, but stored 68 lbs. 

 of honey in sections, and have never been seen 

 clustered outside of the hive to this day. I have 

 named that colony "Never Hang Out," and that 

 name means honey. They are Holy-Lands crossed 

 with our native drones. I have another race which 

 in Juqe a;)d July, 1883, threw off five gwarms, leav- 



ing at last a colony queenless. They are Cyprio- 

 Italiaris. 



I have another stock which I have labeled 

 " Swarmer Stock," and which, in 1883, moved into a 

 new hive with two stories of brood-combs and a 

 frame of brood, and in about two weeks moved out 

 of that again, leaving it full enough of bees to give 

 me a surplus of over .50 lbs. of extracted honey, and 

 about as much more from the new hive into which 

 I placed them. In 1884, and during the present sea- 

 son, they have shown the same qualities— fertility 

 of queen, and industry. Unlike the first-instanced 

 Holy-Lands, these are often found clustering out. 



I have noted the most desirable qualities in cross- 

 es between the different races decidedly the most 

 marked, rather than in the imported stock of either 

 race. - S. W. Morrison, M. D. 



Oxford, Pa, 



I agree with yon. friend M., that bees rec- 

 ognize robbers, at least mainly, by their 

 behavior. Yonr conclusion is just the one 

 I have arrived at after much observation 

 and study. The point you bring out, that 

 the progeny of certain queens have certain 

 peculiarities which they hold season afkr 

 season, is a very interesting one, and it 

 seems to me to point, without question, to the 

 fact that we may greatly improve our bees 

 if we take pains to encourage these desira- 

 ble traits, and discourage those not so de- 

 sirable. 



A PLEASANT REMINISCENCE. 



.\t.SO A WORD IN EAVOR OE I.AWN-.MOWERS. 



T^ AST summer, wliile on board a train I passed 

 P*' by the neatly kept apiary of Mr. Porter, of 

 ^j Lewistown, 111. The nicely painted hives, ar- 

 *" ranged in regular rows, equidistant from 

 each other, presented a very pretty picture. 

 The streets and alleys of this miniature city were in 

 blue-grass sod, and kept neatly trimmed by the fre- 

 (juent use of the lawn-mower. 1 consider a lawn- 

 moAver a necessary implement for use in the apiary 

 and every well-ordered home. It is a great boon 

 for the tired mother, when the yard or lawn is clip- 

 l)eil short, for the children and visitors prefer it to 

 the house; and when she is through with her work 

 she finds her house in order, for the children have 

 kept house, taught school, or been a visiting out of 

 doors. A hammock and a swing should be provided 

 for the use of little ones. A hammock hung in the 

 shade in an npinry is a great luxury. Here the tired 

 owner can recline, read, and watch the issuing of 

 swarms. The most comfortable one I ever enjoyed 

 was made from a cracker-barrel. Two holes were 

 bored in the end of each stave, and small but stout 

 rope was woven back and forth, using forty feet of 

 rope, twenty for each side. Pieces of carpet were 

 spread over the staves, and a pillow for the use of 

 the head. I'm afr.aid that Mr. Root will think this 

 savors of idleness; but there are persons to whom 

 rest means one of the greatest economies. 



I'm in hopes that the lawn-mower that Mr. Root 

 is tiow offering to the public runs easily, so that a 

 child can work it. In order to keep a lawn in order. 

 It must be clipped as often as twice a week, during 

 showery weather, and the older members of the 

 family may not have time to spend in this way. If 

 a child runs the mower, it is better to run it fifteen 

 or twenty minutes every day, so the work will not 



